I much rather have McGwire than Bonds making the HOF. At least McGwire is a nice and sincere person, 'roids notwithstanding. Bonds is just a SOB who don't deserve a job at this point. He'll get roundly booed if he ever breaks Hank Aaron's record I'll bet (unless he's in SF).

Gee, what a totally magnanimus gesture by Bonds. Nice of him to stick his neck out on an issue that in no way has any affect on him whatsoever. :roll

IMO Bonds should go in the Hall, simply because he established his credentials BEFORE he got juiced. So far as I know, there's no evidence, accusation, or even suspicion that he was juiced for his first three MVPs.

Big Mac should go in someday, but I don't think he deserved it now. Many still consider being a 1st ballot Hall of Famer to be a special mark of distinction, which is likely the only reason Gwynn and Ripken didn't get 100%. Given the suspicion of steroid use, and his refusal to discuss his own past, it gives enough of a taint to deny him immediate entry. Unlike Bonds, McGwire was a one-dimensional player. Take away his power, and he has no case for the hall. Put that under the shadow of steroids, and a strong case for the Hall becomes much weaker. In the end, it was McGwire who chose to play coy about his past. I see no reason why the writers can't play coy with his entrance into Cooperstown. He's still got another 14 years to make it in, and if he doesn't want to talk, I've got no problem making him wait.

As for Pete Rose, he burned his bridges badly. Many fans stuck by him for nearly two decades as he insisted he didn't bet on baseball. Then he writes a book and admits that he DID! Many who backed him felt played and resentful. It'll be a long time before he gets in. He should get in, but I don't think his time in purgatory is over yet.

Now, Shoeless Joe Jackson... he deserves to go in. Guy was given a lifetime ban. Well, his lifetime is long over, as are the lifetimes of those who imposed the ban and almost anyone who ever saw him play.

Looking at MAC's stats, he hit .260 or less 8 times. He struck out nearly 1,600 times and only had slightly above 1,600 hits in a 16-year career. A Hall of Famer getting only on average 100 hits per season!!!

The power and OBP are there, but everywhere else is lacking.

I don't see the numbers for him to get in (power aside). I don't even think anybody has ever thought of him as one of the all-time greats. Plus, I'm not so sure the writers will give him a pass next year or thereafter.

Fame is more than just their playing credentials. McGuire and Sosa's home run chase brought baseball back from the brink. After the strike, fans just didn't care and it took that home run chase to bring people back to their TVs and back into stadium seats. To me, that alone gets him in the hall, even if not on the first ballot.

Rose deserves to be in as a player, the gambling was done as a coach and does taint his legacy, the fact that he refuses to really see it as the problem it was and how bad the cover up hurt his chances is sad to see. He may never get into the hall simply because of his attitude. His best chance was to come clean and appologise pubicly back when he had most of the fans on his side.

Bonds coming out in favor of Rose & McGuire is like Jerry Springer giving a lecture on journalistic integrity